Happiness Can Lead to Healthiness

September 12th, 2008

It’s easy sometimes to separate how we’re feeling mentally from our physical health. Yet these two aspects are often intimately interconnected and intertwined, with one feeding off the other. If you’re feeling depressed, you could experience psychical symptoms related to that mental distress. Likewise, if you’re ill, you might feel mentally worn out and stressed as well. It only makes sense, then that your personal happiness and well-being can play a big role in how you feel physically. Very often, the happier you are, the better you’ll feel both inside and out.

Despite this, many of us don’t spend a lot of time thinking about our mental health or caring for it the way we might watch our cholesterol or hit the gym. Happiness isn’t something that just happens overnight, at it can take the same amount of work to be happy that it can to attain those killer six-pack abs. If you’re really aiming at holistic health and making all parts of you healthier, then you need to pay just as much attention to your mental health as you do your physical. Luckily, there are some ways that you can start doing just that without taking up too much time or adding too much stress to your already busy day.

One of the easiest ways to work on your health and happiness at the same time is to think about all the good things you have in your life while you’re working out. Not only will this help you to become a more positive and happier person, but it will make working out a much more pleasant experience as well. These gratitude exercises can help you learn to focus on the positive in life rather than the negative.

Humans aren’t mean to be solitary creatures, so it’s essential to your happiness that you cultivate relationships with others as much as you can. If you have problems, talk about them and work them out rather than letting them fester. Spend time with those you care about and even bring them along to play sports or workout to do double duty.

Finally, one of the biggest killers of happiness and well-being is stress. Stop stressing yourself out trying to be the perfect parent, employee, spouse or person. Accept that sometimes good enough is, well, good enough. While it’s smart to push yourself from time to time, don’t forget to give yourself a break now and then as well.

Happiness and healthiness go hand in hand, so make sure you’re not neglecting your mental well-being in favor of other things in life. After all, the happier you are, the better everything else in life will be as well.